


oddities

by Mamichigo



Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Bodyswap, Crushes, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Snusmumriken | Snufkin Has Paws and a Tail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-12 15:58:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19135342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mamichigo/pseuds/Mamichigo
Summary: Moomin wondered if Grandma's book had anything for unexpectedly swapping bodies with your best friend.





	oddities

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kotaboda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kotaboda/gifts).



> This was just a small, silly thing that I've been wanting to write since I saw a bodyswap fanart on Tumblr. Decided to just go for it to maybe cheer up my buddy, so I hope you enjoy it Kota <3

Many curious things happened in Moominvalley: between witch spells, comets, floating theaters, and wish granting creatures, one could never get too used to surprises. And even so, Moomin believed himself to have become somewhat accustomed to the extraordinary enough that it felt normal despite the shock it came with at first.

Moomin had encountered many odd things in his life, and he learned to take it in stride; to shrug and think “well, that might as well happen”.

This, however, was an entirely new level of odd. Just the surprise of waking up somewhere that certainly wasn't his comfortable bed and warm sheets was enough to throw him off. Through his sleep muddled brain, Moomin wondered if maybe he had sleepwalked—an oddity in itself, as Moomin had never done such a thing before.

Then, as he blinked at the green and inclined ceiling, he frowned, thinking what a strange house he had found himself in. The thought was, however, followed by realization—of course the “ceiling” had felt familiar, he was in Snufkin's tent! Moomin hadn't been inside his friend's tent many times before, but he could easily recognize that particular shade of green, and the hat resting by his head was enough evidence to confirm his suspicions.

Snufkin himself was absent, surely outside fishing by this time of the morning. Moomin would have to make sure to apologize for possibly sleepwalking and troubling his friend last night.

He allows himself to sink into the blanket for a second more, inhaling the earthy scent that permeated it. Not any longer than that, as the embarrassment and guilt surged up not too late after that, and Moomin bolted upright and out of tent in an instant, bringing Snufkin's hat with him just in case his friend wanted it but had been afraid of disturbing the sleeping Moomin. It was better to think of the simple task than to let the temptation temptation to breathe in more of the soothing smell to permeate his thoughts.

It takes maybe too long for Moomin to fully realize just how truly weird of a situation he got himself into—Moomin would blame it on sleepiness if asked, but admitted only to himself that it had more to do with the way his heart raced at the thought of having slept next to Snufkin last night.

As he runs outside, he calls out for Snufkin, then entirely freezes.

That wasn't his voice, was it?

Moomin tried it again, only to acquire the same result. Now thoroughly disturbed, he raised a paw to touch his own throat, to check if maybe there was something wrong with it. The paws don't reach their destination, since Moomin gets distracted by their appearance, turning them this and that way to stare at the light black fur that covers them. Those aren't his paws, either.

He notices the green clothes last, long and warm and covering his entire body, with brown boots to go along with it. Moomin tugs at the yellow scarf with a paw, and pats his own face (finding a much smaller nose than he's used to), blinking at the all too familiar features, though he  had never seen them from this particular angle before.

Moomin tilts his head to the side and frowns. “Huh. Now what am I doing in Snufkin's body?”

Perhaps it's rude to stare at someone else's body, but maybe this was an exception, since Moomin was technically burrowing it for now? Or at least that's what Moomin told himself as he stood before the river, poking and pulling on his cheeks while watching it from the reflection in the water. He even made sure to perch the green hat on his head, tilting it this and that way. Surely Snufkin wouldn't mind too much.

Which reminds him…

“Snufkin!” Moomin startled, remembering that if he's burrowing the mumrik's body, then perhaps something happened to him.

He's about to bolt again, but it's like Snufkin was summoned by the sound of his own name, as Moomin sees a troll that looks just like himself walking past the bridge to join him. Said troll walks in calm steps, but the flattened ears atop his head betrays the facade.

Hesitating, Moomin approaches carefully, a paw raised but not touching (even if the body in front of him is very much his own).

“Snufkin…?”

All at once, the tenseness that Snufkin had been carrying seems to melt away, and he smiles at the sound of his name.

“What a relief, so it is you, Moomin. I was worried about what could have happened to you, and to my body as well,” Snufkin admitted.

“And I was worried about  _ you _ ! I'm so very glad you're okay!” Moomin said, trying not to find it too weird to hear that much excitement in Snufkin's voice.

Out of habit, he reached for Snufkin's paws and squeezed it in his own. Even if he was technically only holding himself, the touch was as comforting as it always was—and if the way Snufkin's tail swished happily, he would say the mumrik felt much the same.

When Snufkin smiled at his again, eyes squinting, he felt his own tail wag inside his clothes, even if his head struggled to conciliate the image of his face as being Snufkin's.

Wait a minute.

For the second time that morning, Moomin froze. He blinked at Snufkin in astonishment, and Snufkin in turn tilted his head in question.

“Snufkin, you have a tail too?” Moomin asked, voice rising an octave.

Snufkin exhaled a soft “oh”, then reached for his head, but realizing his hat was missing, the mumrik settled for averting his gaze to the side.

“Well, yes,” he replied awkwardly.

Moomin leaned into Snufkin's space, forgetting about boundaries in his excitement. He squeezed Snufkin's hand, and his tail wagged harder, thumping against the back of his coat.

“Why didn't you tell me?! Oh, this is so exciting! I never thought you'd have one, I've never seen it before!” Moomin was beyond himself with delight, the thought of Snufkin always wagging his tail happily just like he did moments ago in Moomin's body making his heart squeeze, and his mind raced, unable to stop thinking of how cute that was.

“I didn't think it was important at all?” Snufkin explained, though he didn't sound convinced by his own words.

Moomin paid it no mind, detaching himself from Snufkin to twirl around, seeing if he could perhaps catch a glimpse of the appendage. But, if Moomin hadn't seen the tail before when Snufkin was in plain view, it wouldn't happen now when he had to crane his neck to check his behind.

“May I see it? Please, Snufkin!” Moomin implored, deciding it was only polite to ask before lifting someone's clothes.

“I— Well, I don't see why not,” Snufkin said with a nod. If Moomin had been paying attention, he would've noticed the anxious swish of the white tail, but as it was, his mind was set on seeing this great discovery with his own eyes.

Avoiding touching the skin of Snufkin's body too much—but committing the feel of it to memory when he accidentally brushed a finger to his back—, Moomin reached for the tail and freed it from its confines. As soon as he did, the little thing wagged like it was attempting to fly way.

Moomin wasn't one bit flustered over his excitement showing for anyone to see, he was quite used to it anyways—and everyone knew Moomin was prone to wagging his tail whenever Snufkin was in sight.

This time when he spun on his heels, the tail followed, and Moomin beamed at the sight of it.

“I don't know why you'd hide something like this, Snufkin, it's such a nice tail. It's a shame to keep it away!” Moomin exclaimed as he came to a dizzied stop, holding on to the brim of his hat to keep his sense of balance (and to resist the urge to touch the tail, assuming Snufkin wouldn't take too kindly to that).

“It's not much different from yours, Moomin,” Snufkin said, and the troll realized Snufkin had a nervous grip on Moomin's tail, keeping it in place with his fingers.

Good thing  _ Moomin _ didn't mind Snufkin doing that.

“Well, yes, but I didn't know you had one at all.” He didn't understand the excitement himself, but perhaps it was the thought of maybe intertwining his tail with Snufkin's that had him elated. If he were in his own body, his ears would surely be perked up and twitching at the thought.

Moomin let out a sigh, breaking himself from his daydream. He fell to the soft grass under him, marveling at how different a sensation it was with a mumrik's body.

“Your tail may be similar, but the rest of you isn't even one little bit like a Moomin!” Moomin raised his paw and wriggled the fingers, giggling when there was a glimpse of claws when he did. Then, he aimed for his face again, first the cheeks, then up the nose—and what a small nose it was! “I never thought it'd feel this different.”

Snufkin quietly sat by his side and, instead of replying right away, he reached for his hat, snatching it from Moomin to cover his own head, the brim hiding his eyes. Only then did Snufkin give a nod in response.

“We have very different features after all, it's only to be expected,” Snufkin explained.

“I suppose you're right, but imagining it isn't the same as actually experiencing it,” Moomin said. A gentle breeze blew past them, and the hair that Moomin now had only at his head brushed his cheeks, and he giggled again at the sensation.

Snufkin, however, gave him an odd look. “So you have imagined it before?”

Moomin looked up at him, and there was a beat of silence, then heat rushed to Moomin's face, and he doubted the furless face did anything to hide the redness that tinted his cheeks. Moomin suddenly understood why Snufkin always had his trusty hat with him, as he slapped a paw to his cheek, while the other waved frantically.

“No, of course not, that's not what I meant at all! Just, well, one will sometimes wonder…” Moomin chanced a look at Snufkin, who had his head conveniently turned down, safe from Moomin's eyes. “F-Forget about that, there are more important things to worry about, you know!”

“Oh?” Snufkin hummed. “What is it?”

“Like how we'll get back to our bodies. We still don't know why this happened.”

“You do have a point. And I'd love to get back to my body soon—not that there's anything wrong with yours, mind you,” Snufkin said.

“That's quite alright, I feel the same.” Truth be told, Moomin was already starting to miss the sight of his friend's face. “But what should we do? Do we get the others to help?”

Snufkin leaned back on his paws, thinking it over in silence. The only thing that indicated something was on his mind was the way his tail swayed almost absentmindedly, and Moomin recognized the gesture well from doing it himself many times before.

“I think we should keep this between us for now, just until we know more about what caused it. We could go investigate by yourselves today, it'd be the perfect excuse to keep others from being too suspicious,” Snufkin said. “Besides, I doubt I could imitate you enough to fool Moominmma, she knows you quite well, even more than I do.”

“I don't know, Snufkin, I think I could do a very convincing impression of you,” Moomin joked lightly.

Snufkin smiled at him. “You are many splendid things, Moomintroll, but I'm afraid a good actor—or a good liar, for that matter—isn’t one of them.” Moomin perked up, tail wagging at the praise. As he did, Snufkin gave him a pointed look and chuckled. “You are much too transparent.”

“I'll have you know my acting skills are quite good, thank you very much!” Moomin stood up and brushed some dust off his clothes. “I'm sure I could do such a good imitation, it'd even fool  _ you _ .”

“Now that's an interesting thought.” Snufkin tilted his head. “Would you like to give me a demonstration first, then?”

“Yes, I'll do that,” Moomin said, brimming with determination. “Just give me a moment first.”

“Take your time.”

Moomin breathed in, hopped in place a few times, shook his paws, then breathed out. Then he cleared his throat just for good measure.

He tried to think up of all the memories he had of Snufkin, of how he would hold himself with quiet grace, how he spoke with patience, like he was in no hurry at all, a faint smile on his lips as he gave advice to a friend.

Nodding to himself, Moomin put his paws behind his back, and approached in slow steps. “Hello, Moomin,” he said, making sure to pitch his voice lower than he normally would. “Would you like to go fishing today? The weather is quite nice for it today.”

At first, Snufkin blinked at the little show, then he chuckled, watching Moomin with amusement. Springing to his feet, Snufkin beamed.

“Yes, I'd love to go with you, Snufkin!” He said, and the cheery note threw Moomin off. Did he sound like that when  _ he _ talked to Snufkin?

“Uhm, uh, yeah! So, fishing is… nice…” Moomin trailed off tapping his fingers together. 

What was only a breath of amusement was now full on laugh, and Moomin glared at Snufkin without much heat.

“Don't laugh, Snufkin! This is your fault!” He accused, pointing a finger at Snufkin.

“I apologize, really, Moomintroll. But you were so confident that you could do it, but that didn't sound even a little bit like me.”

“You're the one who started it! I don't sound like that at all either,” Moomin huffed, and Snufkin refrained from replying. His eyes, however, were kind in a pitying way, and Moomin shuffled awkwardly. “....Do I?”

“Nevermind that. Let's simply take this as a sign that we should avoid trying to impersonate each other, I can only imagine what a disaster it would be,” Snufkin said. “We shall keep this between us, as I said before. It'll be our secret for now.”

“If you say so, then okay. I trust your decisions, Snufkin,” Moomin said in earnest. Besides, if this meant the two of them got to spend the day together by themselves, then he had no issues with that plan.

“Well, then.” Snufkin adjusted his hat first before offering a hand to Moomin. “Let's see if we can find any clues?”

Moomin gladly held Snufkin's hand, letting him guide them to whatever their destination would be. It was still just as weird to see his own smile, but knowing it was Snufkin doing it was enough to make his heart flutter.

Content, he stopped himself from commenting on how fast Snufkin's tail wagged, beginning to get an inkling as to why Snufkin kept his own hidden under his clothes.

He'd have to remember to tell Snufkin to let out his tail more often, once they were back to their own bodies.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://mamichigo.tumblr.com) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ma_michigo)


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